XIV: The Knights of Washington
Drake I tried to stay asleep that night, but it was impossible. I had too many questions boiling in my head, and they had to be answered. I shook Xena. “Hey, Xena, wake up.” “Blergh, what do you want? It’s like 4 in the morning,” she moaned. “This is important. I have to know why that man, Orion, hates you so much. It seems like he knows you from earlier,” I said. Xena turned around. “Drake, can we talk about this later? Now’s not a good time.” “There’s a war coming Xena. This may be the only time,” I reasoned. “Alright fine. Orion and I, we dated more than a decade ago. After we had a very bad breakup, he’s been determined to kill me ever since. He has almost succeeded too,” she sighed. “But, I don’t understand. If he wants you dead so badly, then why didn’t he kill you earlier? He had the perfect opportunity. We were outnumbered, and you still don’t have your powers back,” I said. A single tear fell from her eye. “Please don’t remind me that my powers are gone, okay?” “Sorry,” I replied regretfully. “Do you think your powers will ever come back? It’s been a few days now.” “I don’t know Drake. Really, I don’t,” she whispered. I held her hand. “I think they will. You’ve probably healed from worse injuries, so the issue has to be mental. You just have to believe that you’ll get your powers back.” “You’re adorable Drake, but I doubt it works like that,” she said. “I’m serious. The mind is a very powerful tool. I’m sure the mind of the Avatar is even stronger. Use it to your advantage, okay?” I encouraged. She nodded. Having had my curiosity satisfied, I turned around to go to sleep at last. However, Xena stopped me before I moved. It was dark, but I could still feel the glow of her fiery orange eyes looking into mine. “Drake, there’s something I wanted to ask you,” she whispered. “What is it?” “After all of this chaos is over, can I stay with you? I don’t want to be anywhere else.” I smiled gently. “You’re more than welcome. I’d love to be with you.” I could just barely see her blush. I felt embarrassed. “Erm, I mean, like live with you. I’d love to live with you, you know,” I stuttered. She chuckled. “You’re silly Drake. Get some rest. We have important stuff to handle tomorrow.” “Uh, right. Good night then,” I said, barely recovered from my embarrassment. I didn’t know why I felt embarrassed. Xena clearly didn’t think of me as an idiot. So why did I feel like one? Xena At noon the next day, everyone in Orion’s rebel group were gathered for one of his speeches. I figured this was the time where we would learn everything we needed to know. Orion stood on a high surface, and he began to speak. “Hello all. I’ve called this meeting for a special announcement. The Avatar has decided to temporarily join us!” he yelled. I could hear the crowd mumbling to themselves. I assume they were confused about why their anti-Avatar leader was suddenly eager to have us on his side. “Now, I know what you’re all thinking. Why would someone who hates the Avatar as much as I do want to work with her? Well it turns out, there is a bigger threat to world peace than her,” he said. I get that he was trying to amp us his crowd, but he was being a dick. “The threat is a rebel group called the Zoni. They plan to take over the world, and they’re going to attack D.C. Now, we can’t have that. One, because one group shouldn’t rule the world. Two, Washington D.C. is our home, our turf! The Knights have to do our part, and protect our city! So who’s with me? Who wants to save the world?!” he said passionately. I couldn’t hear myself think. The crowd completely erupted. “That’s what I like to hear! Now, we need to get ourselves ready for their invasion. Contact any other minor rebel groups you may know of, and find as many weapons as possible. When the Zoni arrive, we’ll give them a big D.C. welcome,” he said menacingly. After the speech, Amber, Drake, Marc, and I found a quiet spot near the Potomac River. “Hey Amber, you look upset. Everything okay?” Marc asked. Amber opened her mouth to reply, but Drake glared at her before she could say anything. She stayed quiet. Then she replied. “I’m okay Marc. I just had a little scuffle with your brother, that’s all,” she said, smirking. “Wait, what?! Drake, what does she mean? Did you hit her?” Marc demanded “Yes, I hit her. She tried to hit me first, and I defended myself,” Drake replied. Marc was livid. “You never hit a girl under any circumstance! What the hell is wrong with you?!” “You’re mad at me?! You should be mad at her! She knocked you the fuck out yesterday.” “Well, yeah, but I deserved it. I made a stupid comment.” Drake facepalmed. “Marc, you need to stop letting your emotions cloud your judgment. Amber is a cold, heartless person who doesn’t care about you.” Marc didn’t reply, but Amber was clearly irritated. “Why don’t you say that to my face Drake?” she challenged. Drake got very close to her face. “You’re a very cold and heartless person.” I had enough of their bickering. “Drake, back off. Amber’s been very kind to me for the past 10 years. She isn’t heartless. You two just haven’t been able to get along.” “Whatever,” Drake said. “Look, we’re focusing on the wrong issues here. We have to get along with each other if we’re going to defeat the Zoni. We can handle all this relationship stuff later. That okay with everyone?” Marc suggested. We all nodded in agreement. Marc didn’t get enough credit for his ability to keep the group in line. Drake was often brooding, I was often filled with too much self-doubt to do anything, and Amber was often too bitchy. Marc was the only person who kept himself in check. “Hey Marc,” I said. He turned around, startled. “What’s up Xena?” I approached him, and I hugged him. “Thank you.” He hugged me tightly. “I don’t know what I did, but you’re welcome.” Drake looked off into the sunset. “Amber, I’m sorry.” “Wait, are you serious?” Amber asked in disbelief. “Yeah, I am. I admit, I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with, and I think we’ve just gotten off on the wrong foot. You think we can start over?” Amber approached him. “Of course we can.” They hugged, but Amber wouldn’t let him go. I wanted to tell her to back off, but I didn’t want to ruin my moment with Marc. I don’t know what mind games she was playing with Drake, but I was going to end them before they began. Next time on 13th Redux... Category:Chapters